


I am coming home; won’t you wait for me?

by Suchagayhumanbeing



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Canon Compliant, Spoiler: Tony Stark dies, Tony’s POV, With a headcanon at the end, and yes i’m crying about it, basically tony’s death :(, from his point of view, ok so this isn’t a fix it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-10-21 04:16:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20687357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suchagayhumanbeing/pseuds/Suchagayhumanbeing
Summary: Tony knew what he had to do. But Lord, that didn’t make it any less heartbreaking.(or, Tony’s death from his own point of view)





	1. Chapter 1

Tony knew what he had to do.   
But Lord, that didn’t make it any less heartbreaking. 

Many years ago, he would have gladly opened his arms to death, and God knows how many times he almost was delivered to the being’s door. But circumstances had changed; he had a family now. Not just Pepper and Morgan, but those who cared for him and loved him. He didn’t want to do this. 

But he had to. There was no other way. 

He was on his knees, hand burning and pain overwhelming. 

The stones’ power rushed through his body, spreading quickly and violently, burning him where it touched. He could feel each stone connect to his soul, his body, his heart. They all were in his possession, to be used however he saw fit. 

In that moment, Tony Stark was the most powerful being in the universe. 

He tried not to revel in it. 

But the burning pain brought him back to where he kneeled. He needed to do it, while he still had the stones, while Thanos still stood frozen by shock. 

This is going to work, he told himself. because I don’t know how I'll fix it if it doesn’t. 

(Tony didn’t need to think about how he wouldn’t be there to fix it if something went wrong.)

Strange had said this was the only way. One in 14 million. He hoped the wizard was right. 

Tony shook as the power from the stones continued to rack his body. He was running out of time. 

He thought of his life, as he stared Thanos in the eye. About the heartbreak, the deceit, the lies and great failures of his too-long existence. He thought of the unfairness every second held, about the merciless universe. 

He thought about the love he was surrounded with, the people, the making of memories. And how Thanos ripped it from him as if it were nothing. How he stole half of the universe from under their feet and he had the audacity to call it mercy. 

He thought about how badly he wanted him and his army to go away, and leave them alone. To leave everyone alone. 

This was the last act of defiance by the great Tony Stark. 

He raised his arm, all 6 of the Infinity Stones caught in the gauntlet, shining in unison.   
“And I. Am. Iron Man.”

He snapped his fingers.

A blinding flash of white. 

Tony opened his eyes to an orange world. There was no decimated avengers tower, no battling forces, no overhead ships. Just orange, and just him.

No, that wasn’t right. There was someone else, just in front of him. 

“Did you do it?” came a voice, echoing around the place they seemed to be enclosed in. Tony recognized that voice.

The figure turned around.

Natasha. 

He nodded. “Yes.”

Her eyes were sad, looking at him with a veil of understanding. 

“You weren’t supposed to die.” 

“I know.” 

She stepped closer. “You had a family.”

“So did you.” 

Nat smiled, just a bit. 

“You know what this means, don’t you?” 

Tony nodded again. 

What was that term Rogers liked so much? 

Whatever it takes.


	2. Chapter 2

Tony Stark was dying.

He tries to hold on, but Death is so close, holding out a warm hand, inviting him to take it. 

He wanted to. 

Anything was better than this, cold metal encasing him, numbness and pain mixing throughout his body. No sound escaped him, even as agony filled every crack of his body, but he felt every single nerve, on fire and ripping apart. He wanted the warmth and comfort of nothingness. 

But Death would have to wait, he realized after a moment. Tony had one last thing to do.

He needed to say goodbye.

He could still feel the flickering power from the stones, even as they lay dead on his gauntlet. Flickering fires ruffled in the wind, scattered across the battlefield. 

It was odd, how quickly the safe haven, the Avengers compound had just become a battlefield, a place where too many people died and too many nightmares are formed. 

Tony hated it.

It was never supposed to be like this.   
It was funny though, in a sort of gruesome way. The place he made a home out of, the place he hoped would be the home for his team, now it was a memory, the resting place of the man who had built it all. 

Tony Stark was surrounded by the dead and dying, and there was nothing to do but wait. 

He wanted so badly to take Death’s hand, but he held on. There was something he wanted to do, someone he wanted to see before only the memories existed. His family. He doubted they would find him here, hidden behind a bullet-ridden wall of metal, but he held on regardless. He still had hope. 

Pain grew each second he lie there, inescapable and unable to be ignored. It was really annoying, to be honest. He was slightly aware of a muffled, chattering voice in his ear, telling him something about critical vitals, but that hardly seemed to matter. He didn’t feel anything but pain. Nobody, not even his own AI, could fix the damage he’d done to himself. 

There was some relief in it, though. He’d saved them. He’d saved everyone he’d made his own promise to. He was a small price to pay.

Then, there was someone. The clunking of metal and barely audible gasp alerted him. He struggled to open his eyes. Tony tried to appear untroubled, as if his entire body was not about to collapse or rot into the ground. Either one seemed possible at this point. It was incredibly him, to pretend as if everything was all right, even as he lay dying. And as Death tried to coax him to the other side, he told the being no. 

Just a few more seconds. Please. 

Rhodey was there, standing in front of him, still wrapped in his armor. God, how broken he looked. Tears crawling down his face, sadness enrapturing his eyes, Tony became even more aware of his own condition. He wanted to reach up and comfort him, wipe away his tears. They’d been best friends for decades, always there, always saving each other. There had to be something he could do. They were the infamous James Rhodes and Tony Stark! 

But he couldn’t move. 

He felt a cold, metal hand on his cheek, most of the skin burned off from the power of the stones. Rhodey was so close, Tony could see himself in his tears. Heartbreak was plain on his face, glistening under the setting sun. Tony wanted to tell him that it was okay, that he finally did it, but his vocal cords betrayed him. Not even a quiet goodbye could seem to make it through his cracked lips. 

He heard the kid before he saw him. The tiny thwip of his webs, the graceful landing he always had. Tony could always recognize him from a mile away, just by sound alone. As Peter's face came into view, Tony’s heart broke at the sight. Eyes raw from crying, his suit and face covered in soot and damage, and body trembling, the kid had never looked so young. 

He should be with Ned, going to school and spending time with the girl he liked, he shouldn’t be in this battlefield, nightmares surrounding him and death a lingering presence. Tony felt the love swelling in his chest, the need to protect him and shield him from the world full of pain and heartbreak. It had always been there, ever since Tony had walked into the Parker’s apartment. 

But there was nothing he could do now. 

He hated feeling so helpless. 

Tony, had he been able to, would have broken down right then. But the restraints that held him back were strong and unyielding. 

“Mr. Stark?” Peter whispered in disbelief as he saw Tony.   
God, how Tony wanted to leave his body and hug the kid until the world caught on fire. He wanted to wipe his tears, hold him in his arms until everything was okay again.   
He couldn’t move.   
The kid stumbled closer, tears streaming from his eyes as his mentor, his father figure slowly burned to death in front of him.   
Peter was too young for this, for any of this. Tony listened to the kid’s pleas, the small “we won” that put another part of Tony at peace. 

He listened, unable to do anything as Peter begged him not to go, and Tony would have done anything to give the kid what he wanted. But there was nothing; he couldn’t move. 

He couldn’t fix anything. 

And then, there was someone else. Gentle hands guided Peter away from him, as he broke down into Rhodey’s armor. 

Another face. 

So familiar. 

“Pep,” he whispered, forcing his voice into submission. Pepper crouched in front of him, tears streaming down her face, regular blue interrupted by the brokenness her eyes held. She still wore the armor he gifted her, wrapped tightly, protecting her like he had tried to do ever since they had met. Even as sadness took over her face and the dirt from battle was stuck to the armor and her skin, she was still amazingly beautiful. 

He couldn’t imagine a time when she had looked less than perfect. 

Tony knew he couldn’t move, or say anything that would mean something, so instead he smiled. As much as he could with half of his face practically burned off, but it was still there. She smiled too, heartbreak on her lips. He wanted to take her hand, instead of Death’s. He wanted, more than anything, to follow her wherever she went next. But, deep down, he knew that this was it. 

The last moments of the great Tony Stark. 

He was to be left behind, in this moment, in exchange for half of the universe. He knew what it meant for him, for everyone if he wore the gauntlet, and snapped. He sacrificed himself, there was no great villain that got the best of him, there was no great defeat. 

Tony chose it. 

And this was the biggest fuck you to anyone that had ever tried to defeat him. 

But any of that did not make his goodbye any less heartbreaking. 

“It’s okay,” she whispered through her trembling voice. He wanted it to be true. He worried, though. About Pepper. About his daughter that he was leaving behind, at such a young age. About Peter and everyone else he loved. 

Pepper nodded like she understood. 

“We’re gonna be okay.” 

He believed her.

Tony wanted to say a lot of things. He wanted to tell her I love you. He wanted to say to Peter how much he meant to Tony. He would tell Rhodey to take care of his family, including himself, and to never think that he could’ve saved Tony. There was only one way. He wanted to tell them all that he never would have survived without them. And that he was going to miss them so much. Pepper tapped his chest plate once more. 

“You can rest now.” 

With one last look to those who surrounded him, his family, his heart, Tony turned to Death. Without a word, he finally took the being’s hand. 

Tony felt his heart stop


	3. Chapter 3

Tony Stark awoke to blinding white.  
As he opened his eyes, he expected to feel the ever present pain and death, but nothing came. There was just a feeling buzzing through his body. It was odd, the feeling, something Tony had never fully felt before. 

Peace.

Looking down to his body, he was surprised to find nothing out of place. There were no burn marks, no leftover power of the stones surging through his arm, no burnt flesh. 

Huh, he thought.

In fact, as Tony looked closer to his body, everything had healed. 

He had died, right? His memory was still hazy, trying to work out what he had seen. 

There was fire, and pain, and sacrifice. 

There were last words, last acts, last drops of tears. 

Yes, he had died. He remembered now.  
The ultimate sacrifice to save everyone.  
When he looked up, to scan his surroundings, he found that he was on a beach. Had that been there the whole time? White sand buried in between his toes, and the sound of lightly crashing waves reaches his ears. 

It was all very organized, this place, if it was even a place at all. He found that he liked it. 

Of course, when the moment of relief and peace had passed, he would need something to build. He would find something. He always did. 

An endless expanse stretched out in front of him, and he closed his eyes to take it all in, the smell, the salt water taste, the ever so soft breeze. 

As he opened his eyes, blurring slightly with tears as he thought of those he left behind, he saw something else.

In front of him, there was something that hadn’t been there before; someone.

Two chairs sat facing the water, close to the shore line so each time the water would run up, it barely tickled the legs of someone who sat on the chair. 

A flash of red hair.

And Tony knew. 

“Agent Romanoff,” he said, walking closer to the chairs. “Did you miss me?”

Natasha Romanoff turned around, and was met with the sight of Tony Stark, a smile on his face and relief in his tone.

She smiled sadly. 

They were finally home. 

They could finally rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you guys for reading!! leave kudos or a comment if you enjoyed!!
> 
> come visit me on tumblr @ dyke-parker


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